Visions of Knighthood
by MrNoskill
Summary: Tasked by Cinder to infiltrate and recon the school for any information surrounding the Fall Maiden, Emerald Sustrai joins Beacon Academy as a student and soon finds herself partnered with one Jaune Arc. Contending with plots both within in and out as she works, will Emerald be able to complete her mission, or will she be swayed by the lovable blonde knight?
1. Chapter 1

Emerald Sustrai wasn't exactly sure how things had lead her here. Sure, she knew the sequence of events leading to this point, but that wasn't what she meant. Looking down at her feet she could see a large, square sheet of metal which had the symbol of Beacon Academy stamped onto it. She had to hold back a snort upon seeing that. How egotistical. Looking up before her was the edge of a large cliff, at the bottom of which was the aptly name Emerald Forrest.

The sea of trees that surrounded the academy were quite the marvel. A true natural wonder. Emerald cared little for things like that, she was always more focused on the tangible. Resources. Money. That, and the power that came from such things. Once those were secured then you could focus on the niceties, the decedent pleasures that came as part of the deal.

For now though, she simply sighed as she listened to the blonde witch and then the old man explain the initiation to the collected group. As he mentioned partners she started to listen more closely, as this would be important to her mission. It was imperative she was partnered with someone who would be easy to deal with during her time here. She had picked someone out already, a simple looking blonde boy. Emerald had tagged him at first sight, he would be a perfect mark for her. If she had seen him on the streets of Vale he likely would have found himself soon bereft of his wallet.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT!" A silver eyed girl exclaimed from down the line, obviously not happy with the reveal.

Emerald felt herself smirk at the information. Good. That meant that she could easily make sure that she and the blonde doofus ended up as partners. Looking down the line she saw as the boy looked distressed, either from the information they just learned or something else she wasn't sure. Looking at him it could have been any number of things.

Out of the corner of her eye Emerald caught another person also studying the blonde. A shock of red hair pulled back in a ponytail, striking green eyes and a tall, lithe frame that was adorned with armor colored like brass. The thief knew this girl, if only by name and look. Pyrrah Nikos. The so-called "Invincible Girl". Bleh. What a load. What was the spartan's interest in the knight?

In the end it wouldn't matter, if the girl thought that she could take her mark from underneath her she had another thing coming. Emerald sighed once again as she thought of how the whole thing was becoming a huge headache. You're doing it for Cinder. Doing it for Cinder. She repeated the mantra as she waited for the test to begin. She didn't have to wait long as less than a minute later everyone was launched.

Emerald took a moment to allow herself to enjoy the sensation. She closed her eyes to better feel the cool wind as it rushed by her, the sense of weightlessness as she soared upwards, before finally gravity kicked in again. Her eyes shot open to survey the scene. She had work to do. Turning her head, she spotted as the man that would be her partner was tumbling through the air, feet over head, as she heard a strangled cry come from him. Good god. This was going to be worse than she thought wasn't it?

The other person she tracked was Nikos, who appeared to be flying towards the ground below her now. She watched as the girl smashed her way through some trees with her shield, landing on a large branch at the end, before turning and hurling the spear she held across the sky. With amazing accuracy Emerald saw as the point caught the blonde's hood as he disappeared below the tree line and out of sight.

Drawing her own weapons, a pair of pistols with fold-out blades attached, she quickly let loose a length of chain that they contained. With a swing of the weapon it was easy to wrap a length of chain around a nearby branch, allowing her to swing and adjust her movements without ripping her arm out of the socket. With deft motions she quickly was swinging towards where she had seen the blonde teen had landed. Or well, not landed so much as was probably saved, pinned against a tree somewhere. Dropping lower and lower eventually Emerald allowed herself to drop completely, grunting as she rolled against the ground.

Starting a brisk jog Emerald start to make her way through the forest, though not straight towards where her would-be partner was. Instead she moved on a diagonal so that she could intercept the Nikos girl as she also made her way. It wouldn't do for the red head to snap the boy right out from under her nose, so she would make sure it didn't happen. After a few minutes of dodging trees, roots and rocks she found her, casually strolling by. Quickly making sure that no one else was near she drew closer to the girl, settling in only a few paces behind her.

Going into her pocket Emerald retrieved a small, black cube barely the size of her thumb. On the top was a small red button and the side was painted with a stylized cursive W. The little device would temporarily short out any electronic equipment within fifty feet. While her Semblance, which could generate targeted illusions, allowed her to distract and confused people with ease, it had no effect on electronics. Cinder had seen to fix that weakness by supplying her with this, a gift which she didn't take lightly.

Emerald knew that the staff must be watching the collection of students as they made their way through the forest, no matter what they had said about them dying. It was just a scare tactic to weed out the weak-willed participants. The device would allow her to work without the need to worry for spying eyes, at least for a bit. With the preparations in place she started to concentrate on the girl before her.

She felt as her Semblance went to work, and she set it to generate another scream that would sound like the blonde. For Nikos it would sound like the boy had let out a cacophonous shriek of agony but coming away from the direction that the blonde should be. The girl stopped to look in that direction and as she did Emerald made her move.

Padding forwards almost completely silent she held her weapon tightly before striking. Without warning the blow smashed into the back of Pyrrah's head, not even allowing her the time yell. Taken off guard there was no defense, not even her aura coming to absorb the attack. While you could do a lot with aura it only helped if you were ready and able to detect the attack and react to it. The girl simply fell forwards, unconscious before she even hit the ground. She would wake up in a few hours with a splitting headache but fine otherwise.

Standing over the now crumpled form of the "Invincible Girl" Emerald debated on what to do. For a small moment she considered killing the girl, but just as quickly dismissed the thought. There was no merit in it, she wasn't a threat, and to do so would be suspicious anyways. While she had killed before it wasn't something she was keen on. There was a large difference between a fight for survival and cold-blooded murder. The only other exception was if Cinder ordered it, as such she would had no choice.

Stepping over the girl she pushed her from her thoughts. It was time to focus on the task at hand, which was now ensuring that she found her partner and acquired a relic for themselves. After travelling a few minutes away from where she left Nikos Emerald deactivated the jammer, confident that no one would tie the two together. A few more minutes of walking and the thief broke through the trees to find a small clearing.

Looking up she could see him, the blonde who was still pinned to a tree from the spear embedded in his sweater. His feet dangled as held onto the spear above his head, hanging over ten feet from the ground.

"Hey… could I get a little help? I'm kinda stuck up here!" The knight seemed to notice as she entered the clearing, calling down to her.

Without a word to him she unclipped her weapons again, drawing the chain loose once more. With a spin of her wrist she sent the blade attached to the end of the gun into a controlled twirl and after a few moments launched it towards the boy. He winced as the blade embedded itself just beside his face, letting out a small cry in response. With a quick tug to ensure it wouldn't pull loose Emerald thumbed a switch to start reeling in the chain, bracing her legs against the tree as it pulled her up to him.

Ten seconds later she was almost straddling the boy who hung there, now face to face with him. The first thing she thought was that he had startlingly blue eyes. Light blonde hair was atop his head, the messy locks cropped short. Tracing his features, she could see the soft edges that filled his face, ones of a boy who had yet to harden into the man he would become.

A half breastplate covered his upper chest and shoulders, underneath which she could see a black hoodie. He wore light blue jeans below, with a sword sheathed on his hip and black sneakers on his feet. The brown gloves he wore rounded off his look, which in all honesty seemed like someone just slapped armor and a weapon on what they usually wore. It was workable, she supposed.

"Ah…hey! Thanks for coming up and…um…checking me out?" He laughed nervously as he said this, making her eyes roll without thinking.

Grabbing the spear, she gave it a strong tug, pulling it free and the blonde attached let out a small "Woah" before he dropped from the tree. Emerald heard him grunt as he hit the ground, tumbling sideways. It did little the endear him to her, but that wasn't the point here. She didn't need to find someone who she liked, she needed someone she could stand and would remain oblivious.

Pulling the blade loose Emerald let herself drop back to the ground, concentrating aura on her feet as she landed with a low thud. Walking over to where the blonde still laid on the ground she put out a hand, crafting a friendly smile on her face as she did so. She was surprised at how large the boy's hand was as it gripped hers, engulfing her in its warmth.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Emerald, Emerald Sustrai. I guess we'll be partners for our time here." She flashed him a smile as she introduced herself, seeing as a small blush appeared on his face as he looked her up and down.

"Ah, yeah. The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. The ladies love it."

"Oh, do they?" Emerald arced a brow as she stepped closer to Jaune, allowing a hand to rest against his chest. "Maybe you could show me all about that sometime then." She had to bite her tongue to suppress a chuckle as she watched the boy sputter and stammer at her. Perhaps she might be able to have a little bit of fun with this after all.

"Come on, let's start heading north and go grab a relic."

Spinning on her heel Emerald turn towards the northern edge of the clearing, scanning the trees for any threats as she did so. She paused though as she heard Jaune grunt in pain behind her. Turning back around she saw as the knight appeared to be leaning heavily against a tree, his right leg held off the ground. Had he injured himself from when she had dropped him from the tree?

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Ah, yeah, it's just I think I may have sprained my ankle when I landed." The words were tinged with a small amount of pain as the blonde tried to rest his weight against the foot once more. He almost toppled before Emerald stepped forward to catch him without thinking.

"Didn't you use your aura to land? Even if you didn't it should have taken care of something like that easily." A small amount of panic filled the thief's voice as she asked him.

No, it couldn't be right? There was no way that what she was thinking was right. Jaune would have to be either insane or just plain stupid to come to Beacon if it was true. It was his next words however that had the blood draining from her face.

"Aura? Oh… yeah, I like, totally have my aura. It's just… a little slow to act sometimes."

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Emerald staggered back, hand coming to rest against her forehead as she heard the words. While she was good at spotting a liar, she doubted even a child would have been convinced with his words. What kind of absolute MORONIC IDIOT would try to become a Huntsman without their aura unlocked. In fact, how did he even get into Beacon with that being true? A small whine escaped her lips as she cursed her fate.

This was karma, right? It had to be.

"Are an idiot or just suicidal!? Don't you realize how easily you could die out here? What if a Grimm had appeared before I got here. You would have been DEAD!" The girl shot Jaune a fierce look as she said this, allowing her true thoughts to slip through. It was just too much. She saw as the boy winced at her words, his face falling as he looked away from her, ashamed.

"I know that it's just that… I never got a chance to get it unlocked before I got here. I was planning on fixing that soon, but then this all happened so fast, there was no time!"

She could only let out an exasperated sigh on hearing this. The knight had all but told her that he had no plan and was just going to trust it to luck. On top of that she now knew that he would have little to no training, since anyone that went to a prep school would have had their aura unlocked there. This was turning out much worse than she initially imagined it would be. Mercury would be killing himself laughing at her if he was here.

The thought of the silver haired boy was enough to push her over the edge. A frustrated growl echoed through the clearing as she decided what she had to do. She had to unlock his aura if there was any hope of the blonde surviving here.

"Ok, fine! I'll unlock yours for you now. Just sit down against the tree." Emerald couldn't stop a little bit of her irritation from slipping into her tone. Jaune it seemed could tell as he quickly moved to obey her, setting himself down so that he now sat with his back to the tree. Emerald kneeled beside him and once again placed a hand against his chest. "Now just close your eyes and concentrate."

The thief and the knight both closed their eyes and after a moment Emerald prepared by taking in a deep breath. Tapping into herself she felt her own energy, her own aura, and she grasped it easily and pushed it into her hand. As she did so a pale green glow began to emit from her, bathing the area around the two in its light. Letting out her breath she slowly pushed her aura out from herself and into the boy before her.

She could feel a slight resistance from Jaune as she did this, but it quickly disappeared and as if a gate was opened her energy flowed freely into him. The words came to her without thought, even if she had never spoken them before she knew what to do, what she had to say.

"For it is in action that we achieve immortality. Through this we become an agent of our own fate to act against an unjust world. Infinite in potential and unbound from destiny, I release your soul and by my shoulder empower thee."

As she finished intoning the phrase Emerald could feel as Jaune's aura exploded out of him. She could feel as a huge amount of energy was released from the knight, colored a blinding white that she could see even through closed eyes. The energy flowed back into her, the two of them mixing, hers in him and his in her.

Suddenly she was standing in a large open space, a swathe of darkness around her. The pitch black made it impossible to tell anything out around her, it was if she was floating in a sea devoid of any light. After a few seconds though she could see as a bright white light started to glow from behind her, and she turned to find the source. She found Jaune standing there emitting the light, his entire being cutting through the darkness.

It was beautiful.

In that moment she knew who Jaune Arc was. He was kind, loving and hopeful but also fearful, ashamed and desperate. There was more there but it all mixed together in ways that made it impossible to separate. Then just before she could understand what had happened, she was back. She looked down to the blonde knight sat against a tree, her hand still against his chest.

The two met gazes are Jaune's eyes opened and the boy seemed to glow with the energy she had unlocked in him. Emerald felt herself slump forward slightly before she caught herself against him, momentarily drained by the act. So drained in fact that she didn't hear the snarl of a Beowolf heading towards them until it was too late.

With a panicked cry she rolled backwards as it lunged, stopping it from taking her head off, but placing herself flat on her back it as it landed above her. Emerald could feel and smell as it's hot, putrid breath washed over her face. The Grimm reared back in preparation to attack her, but it never managed to do so.

Watching out of the corner of her eye she saw as Jaune stood, now seeming to tower over the two of them. With a yell he unsheathed the sword at his waist, slashing forward with the longsword and catching the Beowolf across the throat. A reddish-black ichor flowed from the wound and she had to crawl backwards to stop it from covering her. The Grimm tried to stand for a moment before with a winging gasp it slumped to the ground, either already dead or dying. Almost immediately the body started to dissolve away in great black flakes.

It was his turn this time to offer her a hand and she was lifted to her feet as she took it. She was surprised at the strength that the boy seemed to have, first slicing through the Beowolf with ease and then pulling her up such that she was almost floating for a moment. Was this an effect of unlocking his aura? Or maybe he was just naturally strong. It was hard to tell with what Jaune wore but perhaps underneath he was more heavily muscled than he seemed.

"Ah, yeah, thanks for the save." Emerald panted lightly as she sought to catch her breath. While a single Beowolf wouldn't even cause her to blink normally the situation was far from normal at that moment.

"Yeah, I mean it's the least I could do for you." Jaune smiled brightly at her as he said this. The emotion was so sincere and straightforward it made her look away. How could someone be so unguarded? The knight looked down to study himself, amazement on his face as he flexed his hands. Your aura unlocking was something you tended to remember… even if you didn't want to.

Brushing herself off, the thief scanned the edge of the clearing, ensuring that they weren't going to be caught by surprise again.

"Let's start moving, we still need to collect a relic and get back before too long."

Jaune nodded and started stocking forwards, his footfalls sounding heavily against the ground as he walked. Emerald had to hold in a sigh as she rolled her eyes. While the idiot was more prepared than he had been before, it seemed unlocking his aura hadn't have improved anything beyond his raw physicality. She followed after him, wincing at each crack and snap as he loudly pushed through the surrounding brush.

* * *

Jaune was amazed at how today had turned out. This morning he had woken up in his onesie like normal and now he was stalking through a Grimm filled forest. He flexed his hands experimentally once again as he and Emerald made their way through the trees, feeling as the power swelled within him. Ever since she had unlocked his aura it was if his entire being was exploding with energy. His steps felt lighter, his body more solid, even the weight of Crocea Mors seemed less. Holding it in his hand Jaune gave it a small flourish, blown away that it felt effortless now.

Thinking back now at what Emerald had said before she unlocked it for him, he realized what she meant. It was like night in day between then and now, and he imagined it would only be more pronounced as he learned to control his aura. Amazing. This was an opportunity that he couldn't waste if he wanted to prove himself.

His eyes moved back to the tan girl who was walking before him. Emerald Sustrai. The girl had an exotic beauty about her, the rich brown skin, mint green hair and dark red eyes so different than many of the other girls he had met. Jaune couldn't help but shudder as he thought of the girl's eyes. So far she had been kind to him, baring the frustration he could hear from her about his lack of aura, which was probably the right reaction. Emerald had smiled at him when they first met, but something about it seemed a bit off, as her eyes never seemed to change.

She was probably just nervous about initiation. That must be it! While she seemed calm and cool as she had saved him from the tree he had to guess that she was actually nervous, just like him. The girl had seemed shaken after unlocking his aura, but he couldn't be sure if that was something that always happened. He had never seen someone's aura unlocked before. Thinking back on this Jaune recalled the strange vision that he had experienced as Emerald had done it.

He had been concentrating on Emerald as she had started to try and do whatever it was she did. The words she spoke had sounded fluid or practiced, like some kind of poetry or music. The next thing he knew there was an amazing amount of energy flowing into and then out of him, as if some dam within him had burst. He had in the next moment been floating in an infinite white space, so bright he almost had to squint. From the corner of his vision he had picked out a soft green glow suffusing the white space.

Looking around he had turned to see who he thought was Emerald, but she had looked different than earlier, as if she was younger. Her hair was longer and bundled into a low ponytail he had noticed, but the most striking difference was the eyes. Still the same blood red color but within them he could see fear. Just before the vision ended it was like he had gotten an understanding of her, one more intimate than Jaune ever had before this. Emerald was confident, playful and determined, but all of this was overshadowed by her fear, loneliness and desperation.

The vision had ended soon after, leaving only the same girl as before. Jaune pondered this for a moment, following the girl with his eyes as she walked confidently through the trees. He didn't know what to think exactly, but for now all he could do was trust her. They had the next four years to grow closer and learn about each other. A small smile crossed his face at this thought.

Jaune had never been the most popular of people when he was back home. It was a consequence of his large family he suspected. Being the only boy among seven sisters had caused them to baby him, treat him as someone fragile. While the sentiment was nice it did end up being a bit annoying at times, always being mothered and smothered with affection. The knight could fight his own battles when he needed to. That was part of the reason he had come here, in order to prove himself as both a man and a warrior.

After around ten minutes of walking, with Emerald blazing a trail through the forest in which he could only presume to be north, they finally entered a large clearing filled with soft grass. In the distance Jaune could make out what looked like some sort of circle of stones, obviously cut and set together almost like an ancient shrine. Calling to the green hair girl he pointed to it and she simply nodded in response, turning towards it.

As they drew closer the structure became clearer and he could see a series of pedestals ringing the edge of the stone. There appeared to be a series of gold and black objects set alternating on the top of each pedestal.

"Hey, it looks like those are probably the relics over there." Jaune called to Emerald as he pointed at the structure.

"Ah, yeah I can see it. You're probably right. Looks like we made it." She turned to shoot him a quick smile.

It looked like things were looking up for them now.

* * *

It was amazing how quickly things could go wrong. Emerald was convinced by this point that she had to be cursed, as there was no other reason for everything that had happened to her. Pick out a simple looking boy for her partner, only to learn he was almost an invalid. Unlock the idiot's aura, only to almost get beheaded by a Beowolf. Easily make their way through the forest and find the relics, only to be almost immediately set upon by a giant Nevermore.

The thief watched as the Grimm circled the area, letting out a deep squawk before turning and diving towards the group that had gathered at the ruins holding the relics. Shortly after she and Jaune arrived a few other pairs had found their way to claim a relic as well. Gathered now was herself and Jaune, a blonde named Yang and her dark-haired partner Blake, the silver eyed girl Ruby and the ice queen Weiss Schnee and finally a ginger girl named Nora and her taciturn friend Ren. Almost immediately after the introductions, most of which was facilitated by Jaune, the Nevermore had come screaming down at them from the nearby mountain.

As the avian monster swept lower Emerald pulled her two pistols, and accompanied by everyone except Jaune, launched a salvo of bullets, shotgun pellets, dust projectiles and even some grenades blasting into it. The knight stood before her as if to guard his partner, shield at the ready. She sighed at the notion. What was he going to do with just a sword?

Something it turned out, as the Nevermore took an array of bullets and explosions it dove too low, catching a wing into the ground and digging a furrow into the earth as it tumbled. The momentum bled from the creature stopping it only a few feet from their collected group. Jaune was one of the first to jump forward, followed quickly by many of the others, herself included. She watched as the boy leapt and plunged his sword upto the base in the side of the bird as it tried to climb to its feet.

The strike was clumsily made but obviously backed by the knight's natural strength, seeing as it cut into the creature with ease. Perhaps with a bit of training he wouldn't be quite so bad. Emerald dashed as she thought this, quickly bringing herself within striking range of the Nevermore, just below it's neck. With a flick of her wrist the blades popped out and locked into place and she went to work, bringing them down against the feathers before her. The thief felt as the feathers and then flesh below was parted beneath each blade, tearing two long lines into the Grimm.

She watched as the others did similar, cutting into, bashing and crushing the creature with ease before it could even rise. Emerald let out a small breath of exhaustion as she watched the others finish their work. With one last warble the Nevermore finally fell silent and she watched as great black flakes began to fleck off the body, breaking down before being whisked away by the wind. She heard the heavy footfalls that she could now attribute to Jaune as he approached.

"Good job, I saw you rip into the feathers with ease," Emerald praised. It would be easier to deal with the boy if they had a good relationship going forward, so she would work on building it.

"Ah… thanks, you were really good yourself." Jaune let out a sigh as he spoke, "At least it's done for now and we have our relic. I'm kind of beat after everything that has happened." The knight let his shoulders drop a small bit, a sign of the exhaustion he spoke of. In truth Emerald felt the same, too much had happened today.

"Well don't worry, the only thing left to do is climb the cliffs over there and then we're home free."

Emerald could only laugh in response to the loud groan that came from Jaune, his face twisting into a frown. With a chuckle she turned and started to walk towards the rock wall, the blonde knight soon behind her.

* * *

 **Hello and welcome to my new fic.**

 **Now this is what I can truly call a crack ship. The pairing here will be Jaune X Emerald or Topaz (which I'm kinda meh on as the ship name).**

 **This was not originally the story I was working on but the idea came to mind and before I knew it here we were.**

 **I think Emerald has the potential to be one of the most interesting villain characters in the show, even thought we know little to nothing about her at this point.** **As such parts of this fic, which will eventually go into her past, will be completely original. I hope that I can do that without making her seem OoC, but I can only try my best in that regard in general.**

 **As an example in the first draft of this chapter Emerald killed Pyrrah instead of just knocking her out, but I felt that it was a bit much. One, the reaction would have been probably negative and it would be a bit hard to write her back from that. My goal is to make Emerald at least kind of like-able and having her kill a fan favorite character in the first chapter wouldn't help that. Haha.**

 **This will be my first time trying to plot out and write a longer story, and the first time working with so many characters, so please forgive me any small (or large) mistakes. This will be a learning experience for me as I try to improve my writing in all aspects.**

 **My goal is to try and update this weekly, so look for the next chapter either Feb 17th or 18th, but I'll be doing my best to get one out every Saturday.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Jaune Arc, Emerald Sustrai, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces and will become team JSBY or Jazzberry, led by Jaune Arc."

Claps sounded out through the auditorium, which was now filled with a collection of students both old and new. The Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch had met the group of them as they had crested the cliffs. With a small congratulations Emerald and the rest had been taken to the school to rest before the ceremony.

"Wha-, I'm team leader?" Jaune started to look green as it dawned on him.

She had to agree with the feeling. While she had no interest in being team leader, it would be too time consuming to do among other downsides, she had to suspect that one of the other two might be better suited. Then again Cinder had told her what she knew about Ozpin, and the man seemed to bank on potential. The man as enigmatic at the best of times, so it seemed be best to just let things like this slide. The group stepped down from the stage as the last team rose behind them.

"Finally, we have Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. They retrieved the white knight pieces and will become team RSVL or Rose Vale, led by Ruby Rose."

At this declaration a shrill whistle was blown by Yang as she started to yell up to her sister. This was another odd choice for leader in Emerald's opinion. Not only was the girl two years younger than everyone she seemed hopelessly naïve. Had Ozpin recruited her for some specific reason? That would be the obvious conclusion to be made, considering the odd circumstances surrounding the girl.

This was yet another thing that she would need to keep an eye on as she worked here. While her primary directive from Cinder was to investigate for any information on the Fall Maiden while she was here, it would be foolish of her to ignore this. Emerald looked up at the man on stage, trying to get a read on him but even her skills on reading people was thwarted. The would remain a mystery for a while yet.

Ozpin turned and walked to center stage, just before a microphone there and as he did all sound in the room seemed to die. The man certainly had a presence that demanded attention and respect of those around him. Some of them anyways. Emerald was too suspicious of the man to respect him.

"I want to congratulate all of the new students on passing our initiation. While it might seem odd to you now, in time you should come to understand why we do what we do. This is only your first step here at Beacon and I have high hopes that all of you can and will thrive here. These next four years are yours, use them wisely."

With that the man simply turned and walked backstage, leaving only a low din of whispers amongst the students. That was quickly ended as Miss Goodwitch stepped forward and started giving instructions for the first years about where they would be staying. Emerald had to fight back a frown at the thought. Dorm rooms, ugh. There would be no break for her while she was here, but she knew that coming in. The mantra from before appeared again. You're doing this for Cinder. For Cinder. Cinder.

"So, boss man what's the plan?" Yang called to Jaune, who looked to still be in a daze from before.

"Ah… yeah, well for now lets just work on getting situated and settled… I guess."

"Righty-o!" She gave him a quick salute and a grin.

With these words the group started their way out of the room, following the flow of first-years.

* * *

Ozpin let the acrid scent of the coffee in his cup fill his nose before brining the cup to his lips, sipping it lightly. He felt as the bitter taste filled his mouth and then the small rush of caffeine as he swallowed. He stood looking out of the large bay windows that his office was comprised of, one of the benefits of his position. The sun had set, and he could see a soft glow of light coming from many of the windows in the dorms. The new students no doubt getting settled and off to bed. It had been a long day for everyone involved.

With a quiet ding the doors of the elevator opened, and the familiar clicking of heels let Ozpin know who it was without having to look. He could have guess even without it, but that small reassurance was welcome. He turned as Glynda stopped just in front of his desk and set down a small stack of folders. Transcripts and information on their new students that he would be going over.

"Ah, Glynda, thank you for your hard work today. I appreciate it, as always."

The woman just let out a small sigh as she sat heavily into a nearby chair. After a moment to straighten her hair and glasses she met his eye again. Without a word Ozpin quickly pulled out a cup and saucer and poured her some tea that had been ready and waiting for her. Glynda took it with a grateful nod, bringing the cup up to take in the aroma. After a small sip she set it back down lightly against the saucer giving it time to cool.

"Every year it amazes me how busy this day is. Though I guess it should be expected when we launch teenagers into a Grimm infested forest." The blonde woman just gave Ozpin a look over her glasses.

"Ah well it's unfortunate that the circumstances work out to be like that," Ozpin replied, his tone flat.

Glynda just snorted derisively at him. The headmaster looked way from her and down to the stack of folders now piled on his desk. Sitting back before his desk he took one from the top before lightly flipping it open to study the contents. Staring back at him was a picture of one Ruby Rose accompanied by her previous school records and a number of other reports. While he had little to no doubt that the girl would make it through it was nice to see that his estimation of her had not been wrong.

"It's a shame about Miss Nikos. Who would have thought that she wouldn't have passed initiation?" Glynda remarked.

"Yes, well it seems that despite the moniker that she has the girl herself isn't infallible. That should be obvious, seeing as she is only a seventeen-year-old girl. While she stood a head above her peers within the official scene there is no doubt in my mind that others that match or exceed her skill exist. Some of which likely do not want to be in the lime-light."

Glynda frowned for a moment as she thought on his words. "Do you think that something happened to her then? The fact that she was only knocked unconscious without other injuries was strange. Besides the fact that James had expressed interest in the girl for our other matters. She we make an exception in this case?"

"No, we will leave things as they turned out," Ozpin sighed. "While it would have been preferable to have her here it appears that it didn't work out that way. I would be remiss to accept the girl only to draw more attention to her, both good and ill. As for our other matter… while James will certainly have words on it I believe that this might be for the best. If Miss Nikos has faltered here, then that might have proved problematic for issues going forwards. For now, all we can do is keep an eye out for another candidate. I have ideas for others but until we can vet them they will stay as people of interest for now."

"Is Ruby Rose one such person? I did wonder if there was a reason you pushed her here more heavily than you normally would."

Ozpin took a moment before answering, looking over the files and taking sip of his coffee. "While she might have the potential for that there are a number of reasons I brought her into the school. Going forward I'll just ask you to keep an eye out for any interesting pupils among the students."

Glynda finished the last of her tea before standing, knowing that the headmaster would say nothing more on the subject. Even after knowing him all these years she still didn't know everything about him but knew that he had his reasons for playing some thing close to the chest. She trusted his judgement on this and as such would leave the man to his thoughts. With a call goodnight she made her way out of his office.

Ozpin slowly span his chair so that he was once again looking out on the academy. The familiar grinding of gears above him helped him relax as thought on too many things at once. He wouldn't find any answers tonight, but this was only the first day. They had plenty of time to decide things still. Turning back to his desk he picked up another folder and investigated the contents.

"Hmmm, Emerald Sustrai…"

* * *

Yang was never an early riser, probably due to having low blood pressure in the morning she never felt truly awaken until she had taken a shower. The warm water and steam were needed so that she could even open her eyes fully. That would remain true even with her time here at Beacon, and this first morning is mirror all of the other before it. Yang studied herself in the mirror as she finished her morning preparations, taking in how she looked in their uniform.

Hot, as expected. When you were working with a base as good as hers it wasn't really a question. Using her fingers to light comb through the golden locks she set them in place.

"Umm… Yang? Are you almost ready? We have to get going soon if we don't want to be late, so…" Jaune called through the bathroom door.

Now that was something unlike all of her time before. Cohabitating with a guy, she wasn't sure if her dad would approve. While it wasn't something she was used to it didn't seem like it would be too bad. It might have been different if the boy in question was someone else though. Jaune looked to be many things but a wolf was not one of them. He was more like puppy, determined but ultimately harmless, which was fine with her.

Finished with getting ready Yang quickly went and open the door, coming face to face with Jaune. The knight let out a soft yelp as he stepped back from her, surprised by the sudden proximity. Suppressing a grin Yang stepped back from the boy before twirling, allowing him to take in her entire form.

"So, what do you think? Do I look good?"

She saw as the blonde boy's eyes roved over her before he could stop himself, and he flushed heavily as he finished and met her eye. Yang could only chuckle as Jaune looked away, and she turned to see the reaction of the other two present. Her partner Blake only looked on with what looked like disinterest, but she could see the slight curl at the edges of the girl's lips. Emerald on the other hand was smiling widely at the display, apparently amused at the by-play between the two blondes.

After a moment to collect himself Jaune looked over his teammates, "Well, are you guys all ready for our first day?"

"Yeah!" Yang pumped her fist in the air as she answered, while the other two girls only rolled their eyes at her. Ah, that was no fun. Jaune shot her a weak smile that she replied with by winking at him. Bouncing over to her partner Yang wrapped her arm in Blake's forcibly before dragging the girl towards the door.

"Onward to education!" Yang yelled as she ignored the protests coming from the black-haired girl. If Blake thought she could escape becoming friends and joining in her fun, she had another thing coming.

* * *

Whatever Jaune had thought he would be doing when he joined Beacon, this wasn't exactly it. He had imagined combat classes, which they had later in the week but also things like combat theory or something of the like. The first class had been Grimm Studies, which seemed obvious now that he looked back on it. Knowing your enemy was usually a good start when you were going to fight them, after all knowledge was power, or so he heard.

The issue with this had to be that it was taught by Professor Port and as such it was less of learning and more hearing of his supposed exploits. At first, he and the others had been listened closely, but that had quickly stopped when they heard the man tell them that he had killed an Ursa by throwing his shoe at it. If the stories were true it would be impressive, but they just turned out to be so dull many people had fallen asleep, one of which was Yang.

He, Emerald and Blake had been awake the whole time, but Blake had been reading a book and Emerald looked like she had been doing something on her scroll for most of the class. Jaune had no such respite so all he could do was try and listen, but mostly he had zoned out for what he could only assume was minutes at a time. The knight wasn't the only one that had let out a sigh of relief when the bell rung.

While their next class, History, had proved more interesting it was almost just as hard to pay attention to, but for a wholly different reason. Doctor Oobleck seemed to be extremely invested in what he taught and equally knowledgeable, which was nice compared to Port. The problem here was that Doctor Oobleck talked so quickly that Jaune could barely make out every third word that the man said. That tended to make it quite difficult to take notes or even follow what was happening.

In the end the day had not been too exciting, mostly the opposite in fact, but Jaune didn't let that spoil his mood. The fact that he was here in Beacon was more than enough for him right now, along with the fact that he got along with his teammates. Emerald was still a bit of a mystery to him, but she didn't seem to dislike him which was good. Yang was enthusiastic and didn't look to mind that he was team leader which was great. And while Blake was quiet the dark-haired girl looked to be far friendlier than her first impression would imply.

Jaune could feel a smile slid across his face. Things were looking good so far, even if it had only been a day, and for that Jaune was grateful.

"Ah, I can't wait for combat classes to start. Hey Jaune, maybe we'll end up going a round against each other soon. Sounds fun, right?" Yang asked him as they headed back to the dorm, a knowing smirk on her face.

The smile that Jaune wore disappeared as he felt his face pale at the thought of fighting the blonde brawler. Perhaps he had spoken too soon, and thing were going to get much, much worse.

* * *

 **Hello and welcome back.**

 **I'm sorry for the fact that this chapter is quite short, and that it ended up out on Sunday instead of Saturday. The reason for both is that I had quite a bit of trouble pulling this chapter together. I didn't have a solid plan for the content in this chapter outside of a few vague ideas, which made it tough to pull it together. In general I am going to aim for each chapter to be around 5k words, but in this case I didn't want to needlessly stretch this out when I had covered everything I wanted to here.**

 **I have a much more solid plan for the next two chapters and beyond so it shouldn't be a problem again I hope.**

 **As for this chapter, yes as it turns out Pyrrah is not going to be joining Beacon, which I hope I covered sufficiently here, but if needed I will add more about it later. I do have ideas for her to show up again, but those are not set yet so she may reappear later, she may not, I'll have to see.**

 **I aim to have the next chapter out Feb 24th and it will for sure be longer than this one.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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